Annual event a success despite cold

Sunday

Oct 27, 2013 at 9:21 AMOct 27, 2013 at 9:21 AM

By Matt Durrmdurr@hillsdale.net

HILLSDALE — Flakes of snow slowly fell to the ground early Thursday night, but it wasn't enough to keep the crowds away from downtown Hillsdale and Awesome Autumn.Hundreds of shoppers visited the various shops in town to sample food from around town and do some shopping in places they may or may not visit frequently."I think it's a great idea to have people come out and combine the food with businesses," said Vincent Ricketts, a stylist at Identity Salon. "You'd be surprised at how many people don't know these little places exist."Identity Salon — which opened in May — not only welcomed people to their shop, but also served pizza and subs from Oak Haven Party Store, which just started serving pizza recently. It was a win-win for both businesses as the food was a success, and the salon drew gobs of new faces.Payje Labani, also a stylist at Identity said she thought at least half the visitors were new to the salon.Just down the street at All Aboard Travel, free beer samples were handed out featuring a variety of beers from around the world. Christina Boyer, said the agency has been involved with "Awesome Autumn" since the start four years ago, adding that many of the people visiting Thursday were customers."All of a sudden we have 20 people in here and they're sampling beers from the places they've visited," Boyer said, before saying that new customers also enjoy the international brews. "People who have a favorite domestic get a chacne to try something different."For the kids out and about they even offered a kids brew served at Disney World called "Lefou's."Over on Broad Street, Patty Trevathan said she was pleased with the response of shoppers early in the evening."We've had a really nice turnout. Some of them have never been here before and say they're going to come back," Trevathan said.Patty and her husband Duane own Trevathan's Sweep and Sew Shoppeand also have been taking part in the event since the start. Patty also said many of her repeat customers have brought people with them who have never visited her shoppe, which fits into the spirit of the event.More than 30 businesses participated in the event and various street performers walked along the streets as part of the Ghost Walk. The ghosts regaled people on the street with stories that told various tales about the history of Hillsdale. Each performer represented different eras in Hillsdale history from when the city won the county seat to the wife of Hillsdale's first mayor George Underwood.Organizer Jane Stewart started the yearly event four years ago as a way to get more people downtown"It's another chance to get a foot in the door, but at the same time for myself as a business owner it's a chance to give back to those who come in and show them I appreciate them coming in," Stewart said. "We do have a lot of cute stores and we have great customers and this is a chance to let them know we're here."I love to see the streets filled and there's people walking up and down the street."